Edvard Munch Trembling Earth

A thought-provoking volume on Edvard Munch’s often neglected pictures of nature, exploring the Norwegian artist’s landscapes, seascapes, and existential environments in light of his own time and ours

This richly illustrated catalogue provides a multifaceted perspective on the pictures of nature and landscape by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863–1944). This important topic has been neglected in scholarship on Munch, despite the fact that it is a major motif in his oeuvre. This volume is the first to explore the theme in its full breadth throughout Munch’s corpus, including his paintings, lithographs, watercolors, and woodcuts. His depictions of forests, farmland, and the seashore, as well as paintings of sea storms, snow, and other extreme weather, present us with undulating forms that animate nature. They likewise provide an example of Munch’s preference for liminal spaces where transformations take place, often celebrating human interaction with nature in its many manifestations. The book also considers Munch’s less conventional landscapes, and particularly those where his famous Scream motif occurs. These environments depict nature in an existential way, suggesting that the artist held a deep concern for nature’s destruction by humans—a concern no less relevant today. A complementary look at his writings as primary sources alongside his images shows how Munch mixed a scientific perspective on nature with metaphysical and spiritual notions of rebirth that permeate other parts of his corpus. The book also includes a engaging short story by award-winning author Ali Smith that was inspired by Munch's work.

Distributed for MUNCH 

Exhibition Schedule:

Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA
(June 10–October 15, 2023)

Museum Barberini, Potsdam
(November 18, 2023–April 1, 2024)

Munch Museum, Oslo
(April 27–August 24, 2024)

Ali Smith is an award-winning author based in Cambridge, UK. Jay A. Clarke is Rothman Family Curator in the Department of Prints of Drawings at the Art Institute of Chicago. Jill Lloyd is an independent curator. Trine Otte Bak Nielsen is a curator at MUNCH in Oslo. Arne Johan Vetlesen is a professor of philosophy at the University of Oslo.